Poems

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society is asking local poets to submit poems that will be displayed as part of its annual Wildflower Festival. The festival is set for Saturday, April 16. Send poems to pvnaturewriters@gmail .com. Poems may also be dropped off at the Four Seasons Bookstore in Shepherdstown or submitted by regular mail to Poetry Walk, c/o PVAS, PO Box 578, Shepherdstown, WV 25443. Deadline is 5 p.m. Saturday, April 9. For more information contact PVAS at 304-676-3397 or pvasmail@aol.

The American Pet Products Association is accepting poems for the fourth annual Pets Add Life Children's Poetry Contest through Jan. 31. Students in grades three to eight are invited to write a poem about their pets, what they love about them, the joys they bring and post them online at www.petsaddlife.org or mail their final poem and submission form to Pets Add Life, 661 Sierra Rose Drive, Reno, NV, 89511. Deadline for submissions is Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. One student from each grade level (six total)

Shepherdstown musician Terry Tucker, who wrote a song for director Stanley Kubrick's 1972 violent and futuristic film "A Clockwork Orange," has released a new CD that puts to music the words of two late-19th- century poets. Tucker became interested in the poetry of Danske Bedinger Dandridge, (1854-1914) and her poet father, Henry Bedinger, a Shepherdstown native and one-time U.S. minister to Denmark. Dandridge eventually owned Rose Brake, an antebellum brick home outside Shepherdstown.

April is National Poetry Month. If that made you cringe, then you need to keep reading. Poetry does not have to be dull, dense or dreadful. It can be funny, easy to read and wholly entertaining. The fun of poetry is in the sound of the words, because it is typically meant to be heard out loud. Try reading children's poetry out loud to children, to adults or to yourself. You might find you never gave poetry the chance it deserves. Now is the time to make amends. Come by the Washington County Free Library Children's Department and browse the 811s, or ask a librarian to help you find one of these sure-bet books of poetry: Children's poetry books with CDs: "Poetry Speaks to Children," compiled by Elise Paschen The volume features 95 poems by 73 poets including W.B. Yeats, Richard Wilbur, Ogden Nash and Nikki Giovanni.

One hundred and sixty-six poems penned by Washington County residents were entered in the Ninth Annual Poetry Contest sponsored by the Washington County Free Library. Ten were awarded top prizes and six poems were given honorable mention by the judges, who struggled with selecting the winning entries among a very strong field of poems. Jeff Ridgeway, head of children's services at the library, has been coordinating the contest for the past nine years. "It is a joy to read the poems every year," Ridgeway said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Chambersburg Area Council for the Arts will hold a poetry workshop, "From Paintings to Poems," Tuesday, June 13, at 7 p.m. at the Council for the Arts office/gallery at Kerrstown Square, 166 S. Main St. Poets of all levels in grades nine and above are invited to attend the workshop and to submit up to three poems inspired by the council's "Eclectic Expressionism" exhibit for possible publication in the council's newsletter/calendar of...

The Washington County Free Library is inviting all writers and poets to submit an entries to the 2011 Writers and Poets contest. The library will be accepting poems and short stories from now until the end of March. Poems and stories will be judged in five age divisions: Grades second and third; grades fourth and fifth; grades sixth through eighth; grades ninth through 12th; and adult. Entrants may submit up to two poems and one short story for consideration. Poems may not exceed two typed pages.

The Washington County Free Library invites local writers and poets to submit entries for the 2011 Writers and Poets contest. The library will accept poems and short stories through the end of March. All entries must be delivered to any library branch throughout the county or bookmobile or they may be postmarked by March 31. Poems and stories will be judged in five age divisions: grades 2 and 3; 4 and 5; 6 through 8, 9 through 12, and adult. Poets may submit one or two poems.

Washington County Free Library is inviting all writers and poets to submit an entry to the 2011 Writers and Poets Contest. The library will accept poems and short stories until the end of March. Poems and stories will be judged in five age divisions: grades 2 to 3, grades 4 to 5, grades 6 to 8, grades 9 to 12 and adults. Entrants may submit up to two poems and one short story for consideration. Poems may not exceed two typed pages. The library asks that short story entries be double spaced and not exceed 5,000 words.

"I never really liked poetry until sometime around the beginning of this year," she said. "I began getting into it, and I've written about 60 poems since the beginning of December. " Stephane, 14, is a freshman and literary arts student at Barbara Ingram School for the Arts in Hagerstown. And now, she is a contest-winning poet. Her poem, "I Love You," was selected winner of the teen division of The Herald-Mail's first poetry contest. Stephane said she writes a lot. "I write six or seven poems a week.

"This was a few years ago at the day-care center at (Hagerstown Community College)," said Amanda Miller, Aidan's mother and a language arts instructor at HCC. "The teacher had asked about poems. I asked (Aidan) some questions and these were his answers. Verbatim. " Aidan, now 7, created his poem about one of the things he loved - and still loves - most in his life: the blanket he's kept near himself since he was a baby. "I was kind of describing Blue Blankie - what he's like, how he feels," said Aidan, now 7. "Normally, that's what poems are - describing something or telling how it feels.

Why is it that people captivated by love or another strong emotion so often turn to poetry to express their feelings? With its condensed form and layers of emotion, poetry is a great way to convey love in all its forms - romance, love of parents or children, brotherly love, patriotism, love for a pet or friend. The Herald-Mail invites readers to compose and enter love poetry in our first poetry contest. Our topic is love. Entries may be about any aspect of love - love lost, love found, love spurned, sexual attraction, love fulfilled, even a broken heart.

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society is asking local poets to submit poems that will be displayed as part of its annual Wildflower Festival, on Saturday, April 14. The festival will be held at the Society's Yankauer Nature Preserve north of Shepherdstown. For the fifth year in a row, the festival events will include a Poetry Walk that will feature poems focusing on spring themes displayed along the preserve's Kingfisher trail. Those who wish to submit poems for display should email them to 4seasons@citlink.net.

The American Pet Products Association is accepting poems for the fourth annual Pets Add Life Children's Poetry Contest through Jan. 31. Students in grades three to eight are invited to write a poem about their pets, what they love about them, the joys they bring and post them online at www.petsaddlife.org or mail their final poem and submission form to Pets Add Life, 661 Sierra Rose Drive, Reno, NV, 89511. Deadline for submissions is Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. One student from each grade level (six total)

The title of Simone Le Ann Byrd's recent book of poetry, artwork and random thoughts, "It Would Be Wise Not to Ask for Lemons" is more than a poem, it's a suggestion. "I got the title at a restaurant I used to work at where nobody washed the lemons before putting them in people's water," Byrd said laughingly during a telephone interview. In fact, real life has inspired all of the poetry and random thoughts found nestled among the drawings by Byrd herself. The book, which is under her pen name of Simone Le Ann, has about 80 poems in the 100 pages.

Gary Wayne Melton, 51, of Ware Shoals, S.C., and formerly of Leitersburg, Md., passed away on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011, at Hospice House in Greenwood, S.C., after a long battle with cancer. Born in Edmundston, New Brunswick, Canada, on Dec. 20, 1959, he was the son of Bruce Melton and Pierrette L'Italien Melton of Leitersburg. Surviving him are his wife, Etta Melton and two daughters, Alexa and Larissa; his sister, Jocelyne Melton of Waynesboro, Pa.; and his brother, Mark Melton of Mercersburg, Pa. Gary was preceded in death by a baby daughter, Amber Marie, and two baby sons, Paul and Chris.

Writers of poetry, fiction and nonfiction are invited to submit their unpublished work for inclusion in Shepherd University's next Anthology of Appalachian Writers, scheduled for publication in spring 2012. Original works, including photographic art, with some connection to the region of Appalachia are preferred. Submissions set in other regions of the world will be considered. For information about submissions, see the anthology website at www.shepherd.edu/ahwirweb/anthology . The deadline for submission is Oct. 15.

The Rev. Anne Weatherholt, a local minister and Hancock correspondent for The Herald-Mail, is featured in a new book from Forward Movement Publications in Cincinnati, Ohio. Titled "Wisdom Found: Stories of Women Transfigured by Faith," the 128-page hardcover book is a collection of prose and poems from women — lay and ordained. Forty women tell of everyday challenges, life's most profound joys and its deepest sorrows. Copies may be ordered at a special Mother's Day price of $14.95 from www.forwardmovement.org . Refer to ISBN 978-0-88028-326-7.

Craig Kercheval is an artist. His apartment in Hagerstown is lined with his drawings of superheroes, some copies of favorite comic book characters, some original heroes and villains Kercheval came up with. But once, as a struggling, Christian teenager in Smithsburg, Kercheval turned to another creative outlet. He wrote a batch of inspirational poems as he worked through a troubling time in his life. Those poems are now available in a book, "They That Wait Upon The Lord ... " Kercheval is still a little surprised at what he produced three decades ago. "I wrote those between 10th grade and 11th grade," he said.